US light, sweet crude oil and Brent crude oil both gained moderately on June 13 pending release of the International Energy Agency’s monthly report and the US government’s weekly oil and products inventory report.
IEA said June 14 that oil inventories for the world’s industrialized nations rose by 18.6 million bbl in April. The total was 292 million bbl higher than the 5-year average.
Representatives for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have said production-cut targets are working to rebalance the oil supply-demand situation worldwide.
OPEC and some non-OPEC producers, including Russia, agreed in May to extend production-cut targets through Mar. 31, 2018. Those targets call for production to be 1.8 million bbl less than it was in October 2016.
Separately, Saudi Arabia reportedly is cutting its US oil sales to a nearly 30-year low for this time of the year, the Wall Street Journal said.
Saudi Arabian Oil Co. expects its US oil sales will drop below 1 million b/d in June, and 850,000 b/d in July, WSJ reported, citing unidentified sources. US Energy Information Administration statistics show the July sales forecast, if correct, would be Saudi’s lowest export to US for July since 1988.
EIA was scheduled June 14 to release its weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ended June 9.
Energy prices
The July light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 38¢ to $46.46/bbl on June 13. The August contract rose 35¢ to close at $46.67/bbl.
The NYMEX natural gas price for July declined a rounded 6¢ to a rounded $2.97/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price was $3.01/MMbtu, down 7¢.
Heating oil for July rose 2.2¢ to $1.45/gal. Reformulated gasoline stock for oxygenate blending for July gained 1¢ to a rounded $1.50/gal.
The Brent crude contract for August on London’s ICE rose 43¢ to $48.72/bbl on June 13. The September contract increased 41¢ to $49.05/bbl. The July gas oil contract was $426/tonne on June 13, down $2.50.
OPEC’s basket of crudes on June 13 was $46.01/bbl, up 8¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
